Norfolk, Va. – A Portsmouth man was sentenced to 480 months in prison for multiple drug and gun crimes.
Jason Marvin Saunders, 33, was charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin, cocaine and cocaine base and possession of firearms, in addition to multiple drug trafficking crimes.
Saunders was convicted by a federal jury in July 2015.
Jason Saunders and his twin brother, Jeremy Lynn Saunders, distributed over 1,000 grams of heroin, over 5,000 grams of cocaine and over 280 grams of cocaine base, according to court documents.
Court records say that the brothers managed an organization that they used firearms to protect.
In August 2014, the Saunders brothers exchanged gunfire with a rival drug group outside of a place they operated in Portsmouth.
In February 2014, police found 125 grams of cocaine powder, 50 grams of heroin, 16 grams of crack cocaine, scales, packaging materials, cutting agents, two guns and thousands of dollars in cash at a different location.
Jeremy Saunders pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy and firearms charges and was sentenced to 25 years in prison in June 2015.
The case was investigated by the DEA’s Norfolk Office with the help of the Portsmouth Police Department as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
